MINNEAPOLIS, March 30 (Ticker) -- On a day when the Minnesota Timberwolves could have officially clinched their seventh consecutive playoff berth, the Dallas Mavericks reminded them of their postseason failures.

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Dirk Nowitzki scored 33 points, including six 3-pointers, and the Mavericks shot 56 percent and rolled to a 119-95 rout.

The stunned looks on the faces of Timberwolves general manager Kevin McHale, coach Flip Saunders and star forward Kevin Garnett were an all-too familiar sight for a franchise that has failed to win a playoff series.

Minnesota, which never has had home-court advantage in the postseason, slipped to fifth in the Western Conference, one-half game behind Portland (45-27).

"I don't know if they were so good offensively or we were so bad (defensively), or if it was a combination of both," Saunders said. "They played extremely well. They played with more of a mental edge early, and set the tone of the game right away. We knew the importance of the game, but they got us back on our heels."

The fourth spot is the last for home-court advantage in the first round. The Timberwolves (46-29), who have lost three straight and were coming off a 111-84 loss at Miami on Friday, now just lead the sixth-place Utah Jazz by two games.

The Mavericks swept the Timberwolves in the first round last year but lost two of the first three meetings this season.

Sunday's game was not much of a contest, even with the Mavs missing star guard Michael Finley, who was sidelined for a sixth straight game with a strained left hamstring.

But Raef LaFrentz, Nick Van Exel and Tariq Abdul-Wahad especially hurt the Timberwolves, combining for 44 points on 19-of-33 shooting off the bench. Van Exel scored 19 and LaFrentz had 11 of his 15 in the second quarter.

The trio scored all of Dallas' points in a 17-7 run that opened a 54-40 lead with 3:06 left. Van Exel started it with a jump hook and LaFrentz highlighted it with a 3-pointer, two jumpers, a layup and a dunk. Abdul-Wahad added a layup and a 16-foot jumper.

"I had a chance to come in and keep it going in the second and third quarters," LaFrentz said. "They might have been a little flat for whatever reason, but when you get into a situation like that against a team like the Wolves, you got to take advantage of it."

After Minnesota pulled within 57-47 on a pair of free throws by Marc Jackson with 1:03 left, Dallas closed the half with a 3-pointer by Nowitzki and a dunk by Abdul-Wahad off a pass by Steve Nash, who finished with 14 points and 15 assists.

In a 38-point third quarter, the Mavs shot 61 percent (14-of-23), including 7-of-9 from 3-point range. Nowitzki drilled three 3-pointers and scored 13 points in the quarter. Van Exel also hit three 3-pointers -- all in the last 3:25 -- and had 11 points as Dallas raced to a 100-71 lead.

"We wanted to make sure that we came out stronger in the second half," said Nowitzki, who was 13-of-20 from the field. "We just kept battling on the boards and moved the ball better, and it worked out great.

"It was embarrassing how we got manhandled on the boards Friday (at Portland) and we corrected that. We won the rebounding game (40-35), which is huge because Minnesota is such a good rebounding team."

Dallas led by as many as 36 points on two occasions in the fourth quarter.

"I've been in the league 13 years, and I've never seen a team shoot like that," Minnesota's Kendall Gill said. "We've played them tough all year, and I thought we'd come out and play well, especially after our two losses and the game being on national TV. When you play like we were playing, with the way they were shooting, it was going to be a blowout."

The Mavericks (55-18) moved three games ahead of Sacramento in the battle for the best record in the Western Conference and 3 1/2 games ahead of San Antonio in the Midwest Division.

Garnett led Minnesota with 24 points and 11 rebounds, but received little help.

Wally Szczerbiak, the Timberwolves' second leading scorer, hit just 2-of-11 shots, missed all four of his 3-pointers and finished with eight points.

"I missed some open looks," Szczerbiak said. "The shots aren't falling right now, and we just need to get back at it. We need to get back to the fundamentals and communicate."

Minnesota was 3-of-13 from the arc after shooting 7-of-31 from 3-point range in Friday's loss at Miami.

Anthony Peeler scored 14 points and Rasho Nesterovic added 11 for Minnesota.

Shawn Bradley scored nine of his 12 points in the first quarter when the Mavs built a 33-27 lead.

"We did get the ball inside more than normal today, but when they double-teamed, we made the appropriate pass," Mavs coach Don Nelson said. "You always look good when you make your shots."